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2016 AUI Trustee Scholarship winners

Recent News

Radio Observations of Compact Symmetric Objects Shed New Light on Black Hole Phenomenon

Compact Symmetric Objects (CSOs) harbor supermassive black holes that emit powerful jets traveling at near-light speeds in opposite directions. However, unlike their counterparts in other galaxies, these jets remain compact, not extending out to great distances as expected. For decades, scientists presumed that CSOs were youthful entities, with their jets destined to expand over time. New findings, published in three papers in The Astrophysical Journal, challenge this notion.

NRAO and SpaceX Coordinate to Protect Radio Astronomy

Supported by the National Science Foundation, NRAO and SpaceX are developing a system called Operational Data Sharing (ODS) that provides the current status (position in the sky and observing frequency) of two of its telescopes: the VLA in New Mexico and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia.

2016 AUI Trustee Scholarship winners

Below are the winners of the 2016 AUI Trustee Scholarship competition conducted by International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. These

students will each receive an award of $3,500 per year to aid in defraying expenses at the college of their choice.

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Lara Baudler

Lara Baudler is a senior at Pocahontas County High School where she is likely to graduate as valedictorian. Throughout high school, she has held

many leadership positions and has strived to help out in her community on many occasions. Lara is the president of both the National and Spanish

Honor Societies. She has published several articles in the Pocahontas Times Newspaper and promoted Spanish culture on the local radio channel.

Lara was also an author at her local Warrior Word School Newspaper. She was a member of the school’s Animal Advocacy Club and Student

Leadership Council and has been in the Girls Scouts since first grade.

Lara received second place in the National Spanish Exam and has received several awards at the local foreign language festival. Lara is fluent in

German and knows a decent amount of Spanish. She also has had a Ham radio license since she was 12. Her interests include: traveling, spending

time in nature, hiking, art, cultures, nutrition, environmental issues, sailing, philosophy, medicine, and science fiction. She plans on pursuing a

medical degree at an accredited four year institute.

Lara is the daughter of Anja and Wolfgang Baudler. Wolfgang has been a Systems Analyst at the Green Bank site for fifteen years.

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David Braatz

David is a senior in the Math, Engineering & Science Academy at Albemarle High School, where he currently holds a 4.75 GPA. He is a member of

the National Honor Society as well as the Math and Spanish Honor Societies, and he is an AP Scholar. David has been a member of the AHS Crew

Team since his sophomore year, and he was Captain of the team as a junior and senior. As a junior, he placed second in singles sculling at the

Virginia “States” competition, and twelfth at the “Nationals.” One of his favorite crew experiences was racing at the Head of the Charles in 2015.

David has also run on the AHS Cross Country Team. David participated in CA Robotics, and he is a member of the Northrup Grumman High School

Involvement Partnership, a selective engineering program where his teams have worked on projects that include building a remote-controlled

blimp and a wireless charging device. David spends time in the summers maintaining livestock at Sylvanaqua Farms. He enjoys playing the guitar

in his free time, and lately he has taken to building his own effects pedals. David is planning to study Aerospace Engineering at either the

University of Virginia or Virginia Tech.

David is the son of Lena and Jim Braatz. Jim is a Scientist at the NAASC in Charlottesville.

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Sam Kim

Sam is currently a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School. He is a member of the Math Team and Computer Team and volunteers as a system

administrator for the school computer systems. He also volunteers to teach math once a week at the Korean Community Center. Sam has a

passion for cybersecurity and attended many national and international computer security competitions and won prizes. He intends to pursue a

Computer Science degree at the Carnegie-Melon University.

Sam is the son of Dongchan and Marie Kim. Dongchan is a Data Analyst in Charlottesville.

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Elizabeth Moeser

Elizabeth is a senior at Albuquerque Academy. She maintains a 4.36 GPA and was recently inducted into the Cum Laude Society, the highest

academic recognition at her school. She is a member of the Community Service Executive Board, which oversees the school’s many community

service projects. She is the Guest Chef Coordinator for her school’s monthly commitment to Project Share and the Ronald McDonald House. In

2014, she received the Albuquerque Academy Service Leadership Award. Elizabeth is a dancer and choreographer for Academy’s Dance Troupe.

She is a four-time Varsity Letter recipient in Community Service and has earned three letters in Dance.

Outside of school, Elizabeth is a co-leader and tutor for Read to Excel, a program which works with refugee children. She is also a member of the

Teen Ambassador Board for Ronald McDonald House Charities of New Mexico. In 2015, Elizabeth was selected as an ANNpower Fellow and

attended the Vital Voices Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. She is a co-recipient of the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award from the

New Mexico Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals for her work with Read to Excel, and received the Amy Biehl Youth Spirit

Award from New Mexico Voices for Children for her enthusiasm and breadth of community service work. She was also awarded the Certificat

d’Excellence from the Alliance Française d’Albuquerque for her achievements in the study of French.

Last summer Elizabeth volunteered with the non-profit Centro Ecológico Akumal located on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. While there she earned

her PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Certification. For her Senior Project, Elizabeth is currently working with the Head Veterinarian at the

Albuquerque Biological Park.

In the fall, Elizabeth will attend the University of Southern California where she has been awarded the Presidential Scholarship. She will pursue a

degree in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Oceans, Life and People.

Elizabeth is the daughter of Rich and Sharon Moeser. Rich is a software engineer in the NMS group in Socorro.

Recent News

Radio Observations of Compact Symmetric Objects Shed New Light on Black Hole Phenomenon

Compact Symmetric Objects (CSOs) harbor supermassive black holes that emit powerful jets traveling at near-light speeds in opposite directions. However, unlike their counterparts in other galaxies, these jets remain compact, not extending out to great distances as expected. For decades, scientists presumed that CSOs were youthful entities, with their jets destined to expand over time. New findings, published in three papers in The Astrophysical Journal, challenge this notion.

NRAO and SpaceX Coordinate to Protect Radio Astronomy

Supported by the National Science Foundation, NRAO and SpaceX are developing a system called Operational Data Sharing (ODS) that provides the current status (position in the sky and observing frequency) of two of its telescopes: the VLA in New Mexico and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia.